


I Want A Little Bit More Than Nothing

by bandable



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, Christmas, Cute, Drinking, First Meetings, Fluff, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, How Do I Tag, I'm Sorry, Light Angst, M/M, Partying, Rating May Change, Shopping Malls, Slow Burn, This got away from me, akaashi is hot zumiez worker in case that wasn’t clear, bokuto works at build a bear, i'm just too lazy to tag everyone right now, kuroo works at bath & body works, like super super light, maybe? idk yet, pretty much everyone appears, they all work in a mall
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:54:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27131404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandable/pseuds/bandable
Summary: Being located across the hall from Zumiez, where the hottest guy Bokuto’s ever seen in his entire life works? That’s just another major bonus. That is, if you don’t take into consideration the fact that Bokuto has never talked to Hot Zumiez Worker because he’s terrified. How is he supposed to talk to him when the only time they’ve ever come close to meeting was that one time when Bokuto ran into one of the potted plants lining the hallways of the mall after noticing that Hot Zumiez Worker had pierced his nose?-aka: the au where bokuto works at build a bear, everyone work in a mall (i mean literally almost everyone) and bokuto’s pining for the hot zumiez worker across the hallway.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 22
Kudos: 55





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, hi, hello, this is legitimately the first thing I've written in over a _year_ and i should be ashamed by that, but I'm having too much fun writing this that I'm really not.
> 
> Do I work at build a bear? Possibly. For legal reasons, this is a joke and absolutely fictional and should not be taken seriously. :-)
> 
> This was just going to be a one shot, but it quickly turned into a monster thanks to my bff [alyssa](https://twitter.com/SUNBlNS) who is an enabler and we spent like 3 hours turning this from a one shot about bokuaka to an entire universe where everyone works at a mall. We literally talked about so much shit that this could very well become a whole series with different spin offs about different pairings etc but also I'm very inconsistent so I cannot promise anything.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this first chapter, but please be gentle as I'm definitely rusty in my writing skills!
> 
> I'm having so much fun with this universe but I cannot promise a regular updating schedule either, so I apologize in advanced.
> 
> Enjoy!

Bokuto knows as well as anyone else that at first glance—and frankly, second and third glance as well—he’s not exactly the poster boy for a Build A Bear employee. When people ask him about his employment, he’s become tempted to say he works in an office building. Pretending to work in the most boring career Bokuto can think of almost seems worth it to avoid the weird looks and laughs he gets before the inevitable awkward silence as whoever he’s talking to realizes he’s serious. 

In his defense, he loves kids, the atmosphere is great, and the pay’s even better. Sue him for taking the opportunity! The job is everything he could ask for; it’s fast-paced and high energy enough to keep him busy and engaged, but not stressful enough that he wants to quit after every shift. The store he works in is located near the center of the mall, making it great for people watching when they’re slow too, so Bokuto’s always entertained. 

Being located across the hall from Zumiez, where the hottest guy Bokuto’s ever seen in his entire life works? That’s just another  _ major _ bonus. That is, if you don’t take into consideration the fact that Bokuto has never talked to Hot Zumiez Worker because he’s terrified. How is he supposed to talk to him when the only time they’ve ever come close to meeting was that one time when Bokuto ran into one of the potted plants lining the hallways of the mall after noticing that Hot Zumiez Worker had pierced his nose? Kuroo won’t let him live it down, and Bokuto sincerely doubts he can ever look at Hot Zumiez Worker in the face, knowing that that was what he was going to be remembered for.

It’s a slow Wednesday night, arguably the slowest day of the week, and Bokuto’s organizing the bins of stuffed animals along the wall. There’s still about 45 minutes until the mall closes, but it’s been a ghost town all day. Bokuto’s pretty sure they’ve only made a couple hundred dollars, and he spent the entire morning taping little ghost and pumpkin cut outs to the front window and register counter. He’d definitely had way too much fun with it, and had even taken the time to make a garland out of bats and the Build A Bear logo to go across the top of the window. They had just gotten in a bunch of new Halloween bears and outfits on their truck that week, and Bokuto had spent the afternoon changing out the window display and having too much fun dressing them. He had even spent a good hour trying to stand at the front of the store and hand out stickers to try and get people to come in, to no avail.

Since he had finished putting the new display out, he’s been bored out of his mind. This was probably the fourth time in the past hour and a half he’d organized the choose me bins. And he’s absolutely not doing it just so he can steal glances across the hall where Hot Zumiez Worker is standing at the register in Zumiez. Hot Zumiez Worker is chewing gum, his head resting on his hand with his elbow propped up on the counter, while his other hand taps along to whatever song Zumiez is playing as he stares off into space. His fingernails are painted black, and Bokuto thinks that they look perfect, even from all the way across the hall. He can’t tell if they look that way just because of the distance, or if Hot Zumiez Worker actually has a manicure. 

Bokuto wonders what kind of gum he chews, and figures that he seems like the type of guy to only chew mint gum. Extra Polar Ice gum is probably his favorite, but he seems like the type who’d settle for spearmint gum too. Bokuto wonders if maybe he chews fruity gum every once in a while, like watermelon or strawberry… maybe during the summer? Hot Zumiez Worker seems like the type in school who’d always have a pack of gum in their backpack, but would never share unless he really liked you. Maybe he’d have a pack of Juicy Fruit gum in his bag, as well as his mint gum, just so he could make people stop asking him by giving them Juicy Fruit. Juicy Fruit was basically the most pointless gum there was, and Bokuto knows that if someone gave  _ him _ Juicy Fruit, he’d never ask for gum from them again. Bokuto doesn’t even realize he’s stopped moving, with an empty Toothless in his hands, until Hot Zumiez Worker glances over and makes eye contact with Bokuto, and smiles.

Bokuto almost panics, feeling his knees buckle dangerously as he almost ducks—as if the bins were tall enough to hide him in any way. He’s able to compose himself without dropping to the ground, smiling back at Hot Zumiez Worker and quickly turning his gaze back to what he was doing, fighting the blush that threatens to cover his face. How embarrassing, he thinks, to be caught staring at someone while thinking about what type of gum they prefer to chew. After about 30 seconds, he dares to look up again, but Hot Zumiez Worker has moved from his place at the register, and is now folding t-shirts at the front table, with his back facing Bokuto.

Bokuto shakes his head as if that’ll physically shake the thoughts out of his mind, and goes back to working on the pre-closing tasks. He’s closing alone tonight, and wants to get out as fast as he can. He knows that there’s a small stack of stuffed animals in the back that’s been accumulating for a few weeks that need to be damaged out—ones where legs were sewn on backwards or holes were in places that they couldn’t fix. He’s been meaning to take care of them the past few shifts, but keeps forgetting to do so; he knows that chances are no one else will do it. He makes a mental note to do that after he finishes closing the registers down once the store closes. He knows Kuroo is closing at his job at Bath & Body Works on the 2nd floor that night, and wonders if he’d be willing to wait for Bokuto to finish so they can go get dinner together. (In which Bokuto would definitely not gush to Kuroo about the fact that Hot Zumiez Worker  _ smiled _ at him, and inevitably make Kuroo pay for dinner because he “forgot” his wallet in his work locker. He might throw in the fact that he got caught staring while thinking about Hot Zumiez Worker’s gum preferences, knowing that if he embarrasses himself a little, Kuroo will be more likely to say yes.)

The last half an hour of the store being open passes quickly, especially when Bokuto realizes that no one’s checked their ship from store system all day. He’s left desperately trying to get orders packaged and shipping numbers into the system so that they count towards the sales for the day. It feels like he blinks once and then it’s 9:00, and he’s pulling the gate to the store closed. He goes about closing the registers quickly, and grabs the box of stuffed animals to damage out, and a box cutter. He’s put them into the system already, he just has to throw them out, which is his least favorite part of his entire job by far.

Like most retail jobs, when they damage things out, they actually have to destroy the product before throwing it away, to avoid people finding it in the dumpsters and trying to bring it back in for refunds. When it comes to damaging out stuffed animals, the way they were told to do it was… to cut the heads off. Nothing felt more morally wrong than standing at a dumpster with a box cutter and slicing the heads off of stuffed animals, staring up at Bokuto with their grinning faces. He feels bad, despite knowing that they’re inanimate objects with no feelings. The whole process of Build A Bear adds so much life into the stuffed animals, that cutting their heads off feels like actual murder, and Bokuto  _ hates _ doing it. It’s company policy, though, and despite Tanaka’s act of being tough, he knows that Tanaka cried the one time he had to damage the actual stuffed animals, so Bokuto swallows down his feelings of guilt and does it anyway.

Bokuto shivers as he throws away an Elsa bear, wishing he had grabbed his jacket before coming out. Halloween was a week and a half away, so by the time the sun set, the temperature had already dropped down to an uncomfortable degree. When Bokuto exhaled, he could see his breath. He sighs, grabbing a Stitch out of the box and flinching as he starts to tear at the seams. God, the character ones are the  _ worst _ to do, he thinks. He’s so focused on not cutting himself as his fingers start to go numb and trying to ignore what he’s in the process of doing, that he doesn’t hear the door from the mall opening.

He does hear the footsteps coming towards the dumpster, however, and his eyes widen as he looks up to see who’s about to walk into what probably looks like a murder scene of a muppet. His breath gets stuck in his chest, and he wishes he could disappear. The person had stopped, staring at Bokuto in shock with a trash bag in hand. They glanced between Bokuto’s face and the half beheaded Stitch in his hands, and Bokuto thinks that he’s either going to throw up or cry as his brain registers that the person standing in front of him is Hot Zumiez Worker.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was a bit confused, all of the Build a Bear info in here is legitimate! (At least legitimate from my experiences.) Yes, to damage out stuffed animals we have to cut the heads off (I did a Poppy the other day and that was probably the worst thing I've done in a while. My coworker, on the other hand finds it hilarious and cut the eyes out of a Stitch last week, and I'm actually genuinely concerned about who I work with now.)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this chapter! I'm sorry I'm getting your guys' hopes up with regular updates, but I can assure you that once holiday season kicks in over the next month or so that updates will definitely not be this regular

Hot Zumiez Worker speaks up before Bokuto can fully process what’s happening, “Am I interrupting something?” He asks, eyes glinting in what could either be amusement or fear; Bokuto isn’t sure which one.

Bokuto tries not to blush, as he chokes out an answer, “This isn’t what it looks like—” He looks down at his hands and grimaces a little inwardly, “Okay, actually, it is  _ exactly _ what it looks like. But I can explain.”

Hot Zumiez Worker laughs, and Bokuto does  _ not _ think it’s the prettiest sound he’s ever heard, “Ah, so you  **are** a stuffed animal serial killer. Got it. No need to elaborate!” He says, walking up to the dumpster to throw the trash bag in his hand away. 

“Oh. Yep,” Bokuto laughs awkwardly, “It’s my side gig.”

Hot Zumiez Worker looks at him for a moment, before offering a smile, “Well, as long as you don’t have to kill the witnesses, I’ll leave you to it.”

“No worries, my homicides are strictly reserved for cotton beings. Humans are safe. I’ve never killed a human before, I swear.” Bokuto says quickly.

Hot Zumiez Worker laughs again before Bokuto can beat himself up for running the joke dry, heading toward the mall door. “Good to know… though that definitely sounds like something someone would say when they definitely  _ have _ murdered a human.” He pauses, eyes flitting up to Bokuto’s hair, “You have fluff in your hair, by the way.”

Bokuto can’t stop the blush that spreads across his face as he drops the Stitch and box cutter into the box, and tries to fish the cotton out of his hair. “Ah… thanks,” He says, pulling the clump out, a bit of his pride coming with it.

“Have fun with your murders!” Hot Zumiez Worker says, stepping into the Employee Only hallway and disappearing back into the mall. 

Bokuto stares at where Hot Zumiez Worker once stood, not sure if he had actually winked or if Bokuto had imagined that too. His face flushes again as what happened finally caught up to him fully. He decides that he needs to be at home right this second, so he can shove his face with ice cream and lament about how embarrassing his life has become. He thinks he has cheesecake in his fridge from his friend movie night last week, maybe he’ll indulge a little too much and eat the rest of that too. He definitely deserves to pig out after he’s probably ruined his chance with Hot Zumiez Worker completely. He looks down at the box that still holds a handful of animals to be damaged out, and groans. He’ll have to finish that before there’s any pigging out, and he quickly grabs the Stitch from the box. He rushes through the rest of the animals, angrily pulling fluff out of his mouth after a particularly strong breeze and Bokuto stupidly not having his mouth closed all the way.

The moment he’s finished, he basically runs back into the mall, trying to convince himself that his face is only as red as it is because of the freezing air. 

Once he’s back in the safety of his store, he lets his head fall dramatically on the front counter. He can’t believe that his one and only true interaction with Hot Zumiez Worker was while he was cutting heads off of stuffed animals. Hot Zumiez Worker probably thinks that he’s the biggest weirdo in existence, now, having only seen him when he’s wearing a bright blue apron with a bear on the front, fluff in his hair, box cutter in hand. He’d probably never talk to him again, and frankly, Bokuto wouldn’t blame him for that.

“Hey, Bokuto!” A voice breaks him out of his pity party, and he lifts his head up to see Kuroo standing in front of the gate, “Are you almost done? My car’s in the shop again, and I don’t want to ride the bus this late.”

“Yeah, I just gotta clock out and turn the lights off and stuff.” He walks over to the gate, lifting it up enough so Kuroo can slip under. “What’s up with your car this time?”

Kuroo shrugs, sitting on the front counter while Bokuto clocks out. “Not sure yet, but I think this may be it for Petunia. I just have a strong feeling that whatever is wrong will cost more than it’s worth to fix. I’ve been saving up for a new car, and I guess I’ll just have to tap into that earlier than I had originally planned.” 

“Ugh,” Bokuto makes a face in sympathy, “Well, Petunia lived a long life. And if our schedules line up, I can give you rides until you figure out your car situation.” He offers.

“Thanks, I’ll probably take you up on that.” Kuroo says, sighing. “Being an adult fucking  _ sucks _ . I called home earlier to see if I could get any help and I was told that I needed to ‘use all my other resources first’. Like, that’s a great way to tell me no.”

Bokuto goes about turning off the radio and the stuffer, “Tell me about it.” Bokuto shudders. “I just have to grab my stuff and then we can head out.” He says as he heads to the backroom, Kuroo following closely behind him.

“Anyway, were you guys also super slow today?” Kuroo asks, “Like Wednesdays are usually slow, but today felt so much worse for some reason.”

Bokuto groans, “Yes,” He complains, grabbing his bag from his locker and coat from the hook, replacing it with his apron. “Did you see all the Halloween decorations on the window? I spent like two hours doing those, and I was still bored out of my mind.”

Kuroo follows Bokuto out of the backroom and under the gate of the store again, into the empty mall hallway. “It’s cute though,” Kuroo offers, “Besides, at least you have Hot Zumiez Worker across the hall to distract you. I had to listen to Lev read off the smells listed on the bottom of all of our 3-wick candles for an  _ hour _ today. And he probably would have gone longer, but in that hour he literally read  _ all of them _ .”

Bokuto lets out a surprised laugh, almost slamming his fingers in the gate as he tries to lock it. “What? Why?”

Kuroo throws his hands up in exasperation, almost hitting Bokuto, “Hell if I know! He said something about how he was trying to memorize them and reading them out loud helped. I think he realized how much it annoyed me and thought it was funny.”

After Bokuto finishes locking up the gate, they’re on their way out to the parking lot. Bokuto figures now’s as good of a time as any to mention his little run in with Hot Zumiez Worker. “He’s not wrong, though, I’d do the same thing.” He grins, “Oh, I talked to Hot Zumiez Worker today, by the way.” He says offhandedly.

Kuroo trips and almost sprawls onto the parking lot ground in a heap, but catches himself, “You  _ what _ ? How can you just say that so nonchalantly? You can’t just leave me hanging, what the fuck happened? Did you guys fall in love?”

Bokuto unlocks his car, grimacing, “Hardly. He thinks I’m a stuffed animal murderer.”

Kuroo stops. “ _ What _ ? Let’s hit the rewind button here,” He makes a weird noise that Bokuto assumes is supposed to sound like a DVD rewinding, “Please explain.”

“Get in the car first, it’s cold as balls out here.”

Once they’re inside Bokuto’s car, heater desperately working to warm them up, Bokuto relays the story. “So, he walked out to the dumpster while I was damaging stuffed animals and so I’m standing by it with a half beheaded Stitch and I just stare at him like an absolute  _ idiot _ .”

Kuroo can barely hold in his giggles as Bokuto hits his head on the steering wheel. “He joked and called me a stuffed animal serial killer and asked if I had to kill the witnesses too, and you know how I responded?!” He looks at Kuroo, fire behind his eyes, “I told him that my murders were strictly reserved for cotton beings.  _ Cotton beings _ .”

Kuroo ditches his attempt at stifling his laughter and almost skips laughing entirely, going for crying instead. “Holy shit, Bo, you  _ didn’t _ .”

“I fucking wish I didn’t!” He almost whines, “I then told him that I had never killed a human before. Jesus Christ… and to top it off with a cherry, the entire time I had fluff in my hair! Not only did it look like I was murdering Stitch, it looked like I had Stitch’s guts in my hair!”

Kuroo gags, “Okay, ew. That’s disgusting. Thanks for that imagery. But damn, what a great first impression.” He wipes away a tear that had fallen in his hysterical laughing fit.

“I’m so glad you find my embarrassment to be the peak of comedy.” Bokuto does  _ not _ pout. He’s a grown ass adult, he does not pout. (Okay, maybe he pouted a little bit.)

“Well, at least you got a name, right? We can stop calling him Hot Zumiez Worker.” Kuroo points out, “That’s a perk, right?”

Bokuto's eyes widened, and he thinks that all of this is a sign that he and Hot Zumiez Worker were just not meant to be. “I didn’t get his name. Oh my god, Kuroo, I didn’t get his  _ name _ . This just keeps getting worse and worse!”

Kuroo looks at him shocked, and then bursts into another speal of laughter as Bokuto hits his head on the steering wheel, hard enough for a loud honk to echo across the empty mall parking lot.

“I wonder if he’ll start calling you by some nickname too!” Kuroo laughs, “We call him Hot Zumiez Worker, maybe he’ll start calling you Stuffed Animal Murderer.” He wheezes.

Bokuto glares at him, “I’ll make you walk home, Kuroo, I swear to god.”

“No, you won’t, because who else is going to buy you dinner tonight?” Kuroo grins, something a little evil as Bokuto narrows his eyes at him.

“Well played.” He sighs, resigned, as he puts the car into reverse.

They fall into a comfortable silence as Bokuto starts heading towards the closest fast food restaurant. It was a pretty common occurrence that the two got shitty fast food after closing shifts like this. Bokuto ignores the fact that if he has fast food for dinner  _ and _ eats ice cream when he gets home, he’ll definitely have to go on a run the next day or else he’d regret it. That was a problem for future Bokuto.

After a few minutes Kuroo snaps his fingers, “I got it! He’ll probably call you Homicidal Build A Bear Worker!” He grins and starts laughing hysterically again, and Bokuto wonders how badly it’d hurt to be pushed out of a moving car. 

Maybe he should try it and call it a science experiment--Kuroo was a man of science himself, he’d understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the scene where bokuto basically eats the fluff? that happens pretty much on a daily basis and i don't know HOW because we're wearing masks. somehow, though, i still find myself having to step into the backroom at least once a day to try and get cotton out of my mouth. 0/10 would not recommend.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi !!
> 
> oops i meant to get this done before halloween, but like i said, i'm incredibly inconsistent so! you're getting halloween content after halloween!
> 
> i hope you enjoy this chapter! i had a lot of fun writing it!!
> 
> let me know what you guys think! <3

Bokuto had much less time to think about his absolutely mortifying first impression than he thought he would, as things picked up at work with Halloween right around the corner. He had been working way more hours than he usually did, as they had a few people quit out of nowhere. Hiring was going less than well, with 4 out of every 5 people that they hired not staying for longer than two weeks. Not to mention, Kuroo was throwing a Halloween party this year, as he had finally moved from a tiny shoebox apartment into an actual house. (Rumor has it that he’d basically invited the entirety of the mall staff.) In the past, he’d dressed up for work with half-assed costumes (a pumpkin, a scarecrow, and a yellow crayon), handed out candy at the mall-organized trick or treating event, and then spent Halloween night watching terrible horror movies in his apartment and eating too much candy.

With an actual party to go to after work, he felt much more inclined to put effort into a well thought out costume. (And he got excited over the prospect. He had to put his energy into something, so why not this?) After spending days throwing around costume ideas with Kuroo and Kenma, he had landed on being Russell, the kid from Up. (Kuroo was going as Doug, after a multitude of events led to Kenma asking Bokuto for help with revenge… but that’s a story for another time.) He had spent the following weeks spending way too much time and money putting together a brilliant (if he does say so himself, and he does) costume, down to little badges he had found at a thrift shop fabric glued onto a sash. He doesn’t think there’s a costume contest happening at the party, but he’s pretty sure he’d win if there was.

He was pretty damn proud of the final product, standing in front of the mirror Halloween morning and patting blush onto his cheeks that Suga had pushed him into purchasing last time he had hidden in Ulta to avoid Hot Zumiez Worker. (Bokuto doesn’t wear make up very often, but Suga and Oikawa were too good at their job. Almost all of the make up he owned was due to them convincing him he  _ needed _ a product when he was using their store as a hiding spot. He couldn’t complain today, when the blush definitely added a nice finishing touch to his costume.) His usual unruly hair was tucked into a yellow baseball hat, and he was a little caught off guard by how… young he looked.

A quick glance to his phone shot him back into reality as he realized he was on the verge of being late to work,  _ and _ he opened that morning. He basically throws the blush into the sink, grabbing his wallet and keys and running out of his apartment. His time management skills were not as well put together as his Halloween costume by any means.

He felt better about the day as traffic was light and he was able to make it to work with time to spare. He had even remembered to put a clean water bottle in his car the night before, so he wasn’t going to have to feel guilty when he had to use a plastic cup at work. The mall was mainly empty this early in the morning, too, save for the elderly people who would walk around the mall for their exercise and employees. This allowed him to get to his store and not feel like there were multiple eyes on him, judging him for being dressed like an overgrown child at 9:15 in the morning.

He felt better, that is, until he was pushing up the gate to the store and was startled by a voice across the hall. “Nice costume, Cotton Head!”

His hand slipped and the gate slipped, catching his shoulder on the way down. “Ow, fuck!” He exclaimed, stepping back and holding onto his shoulder as the gate slid the rest of the way down, hitting the floor with a too loud  _ clang _ .

The gate was already temperamental—Bokuto was fairly sure it hadn’t been replaced or fixed since it was installed—and it was not light by any means. His shoulder throbbed, and _ yeah, that was going to bruise _ , but he doesn’t think it broke his skin. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” The voice was much closer this time, and Bokuto looked over and startled again seeing Hot Zumiez Worker looking at him concerned, just a handful of meters away, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Bokuto catches himself before he almost runs into the gate backing away, “Oh, it’s okay! I just wasn’t expecting anyone to talk to me this early,” He laughs, but it sounds forced and awkward, even to his ears.

“Are you okay?” Hot Zumiez Worker eyes are soft as he waits for Bokuto’s response. 

_ They’re pretty _ , Bokuto thinks.  _ No, not the time, Bokuto! Don’t just stand there like an idiot, answer his question! _

Bokuto rubs his shoulder again, the throb having faded considerably already. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. No broken bones or anything!” He smiles.

Hot Zumiez Worker looks relieved, “Okay, cool, I’m sorry again. I’ll keep in mind not to yell at people early in the morning to tell them that their costumes are cool.” He rubs his neck, and the two stand in a slightly off-putting silence for a few beats too long, “I’d stick around and chat, but I have to clock on before I’m late…”

“Oh! Oh, yeah, me too. I’ll catch you later!” Bokuto says as Hot Zumiez Worker starts back across the hall, waving at Bokuto.

He turns to glare at the gate, what a great way to start his morning. He sighs, reaching down to pull it open again, accepting the fact that he was just never going to find out Hot Zumiez Worker’s name. Fate seems against the two ever being able to actually meet, as this was interaction number three (? Bokuto wasn’t 100% sure. It could be more.) that ended with Bokuto embarrassing himself. He really dropped a whole ass gate on his shoulder, huh?

It’s not until he’s halfway through doing the morning numbers that the fact that Hot Zumiez Worker called him  _ Cotton Head _ processes. Kuroo was right, Hot Zumiez Worker  _ did _ make up a nickname for him, and he wasn’t sure if he was absolutely mortified by the idea or flustered by it.

Whichever one, he knew for sure he was never going to let Kuroo know, lest he wanted to sit through the absolute field day Kuroo was sure to have.

His morning continues without any further hitch. He gets more than a few compliments on his costume, and multiple kids have asked him where Doug is. (His  _ heart _ can’t take the cuteness, but his mind is evilly giggling at the thought of Kuroo’s costume.) He isn’t closing that evening, and he’s scheduled to leave around 6:00, which would leave him several hours to eat before he headed to Kuroo’s place that night.

He spends most of the afternoon training one of the new hires, and dealing with their stuffer breaking down for an hour. (The dumb thing also probably hadn’t been replaced since the store opened, and Bokuto was  _ tired  _ of it. If he had to spend another day helping hand stuff animals because their stuffer broke, he was going to lose his goddamn mind. It made his hands cramp up, it took absolutely  _ forever _ to do one animal, and they came out feeling different without the stuffer to fluff it up before it ends up in the animal. The animals always felt heavier and half stuffed. It was arguably the  _ worst _ .)

Six o’clock comes sooner than he expected, and soon he’s in his living room shoving pizza in his mouth, arguing with Kuroo over the phone. “ _ Please _ , Bo, I didn’t realize how hard setting up for this would be!” Kuroo all but whines.

Bokuto swallows, “Why me, though?” He does not whine back, “I’m, like, the worst person to ask! Why can’t you ask Kenma? Or… I don’t know, Lev?” 

Kuroo sounds like he chokes on his spit, “No,  _ Lev _ would be the worst person to ask. The only help he’d offer would be his height, and I’m willing to sacrifice that for not having to see him and his dumb pumpkin costume any longer than I have to. And Kenma got wrapped into closing, and so he won’t be off in time to help!” Kuroo explains.

Bokuto sighs, but he knows Kuroo’s already won. “If you elaborate on the dumb pumpkin costume I’ll consider coming over.”

Kuroo groans, “He’s a dumbass! He wore an  _ actual _ pumpkin on his head! I don’t know why he thought that’d be a good idea or why upper management agreed to it, but he legitimately walked around with a pumpkin on his head all day!”

Bokuto almost chokes on his pizza laughing.

-

“ _ Kuroo _ !” Bokuto basically screeches when he sees his costume, “You were supposed to be Doug, what the fuck are you wearing?!”

Kuroo throws his head back laughing, and Bokuto feels even more scandalized. “Stop laughing and explain yourself, you bitch! You did  _ not _ dress up as Sexy Doug. Nope, this is just a nightmare. I’m imagining this,” Bokuto walks toward the kitchen shaking his head, refusing to look at Kuroo, who laughs harder.

“It’s Halloween, Bo!” Kuroo follows him, “What’s that one Mean Girls quote… about this being the one day I can dress slutty and call it a costume?”

Bokuto takes one more glance at Kuroo, wincing at the fact that this felt wrong on many levels. Kuroo’s hair was a mess, as usual, but a pair of flimsy dog ears sat on his head. He had drawn a black nose on his own with eyeliner. He was wearing a brown crop top with “DOUG” written on it in messy white marker and brown shorts that can  _ barely _ be called shorts. There’s a tail attached to the belt loop on the back of the shorts. The worst part of it all is the collar that sits around his neck, which was absolutely not purchased at a safe for children store. Bokuto will say it again, he feels  _ scandalized _ . 

“You bamboozled me!” Bokuto points a finger at him, “You should’ve told me you were going to make it sexy, I could’ve changed my costume and done something sexy too… now we just look…  _ wrong _ . I feel like there’s a lawsuit or something waiting to happen here.” Bokuto pouts.

Kuroo tries to stop laughing, patting Bokuto on the arm, “We can have sexy matching costumes next year, Bo! I promise. Now, come on, we have work to do!” 

Bokuto watches Kuroo start to go through the shopping bags that sit on the kitchen counter. He can already see multiple types of alcohol and way too many red solo cups. Good, he was going to need to get drunk to deal with the embarrassment of their botched matching costume.

“I could’ve been… like, a sexy cat, or something! Now we just look like I didn’t get the memo! Everyone’s going to show up in cool or sexy costumes, and I look like I stepped right out of Disneyland.” Bokuto complains. “You owe me, Kuroo. I won’t be able to post any of our group photos because I’ll look too lame!”

“Hey!” Kuroo points at him, stopping what he was doing, “Don’t be a downer, your costume  _ is _ cool! You look adorable, it’ll make you stand out! Besides, tonight is not a night to be pouty and emo, Bo!”

Bokuto glares at him, “And why not? I feel like I have every right to be pouty!”

Kuroo rolls his eyes, tossing a thing of cups at him. Bokuto almost doesn’t catch them. “ _ Because _ I invited Hot Zumiez Worker! And after much convincing, he said he’d come!” Kuroo grins, and tossed another thing of cups.

Bokuto does  _ not _ catch those ones, the roll hitting the floor and Bokuto was glad it was encased in plastic still. “You  _ what _ ?” His voice sounds too high pitched and like it was squeezed out of him.

Kuroo laughs, “Yeah! So, now you get another chance to turn things around and impress him.”

Bokuto glances down at his costume, and then up at Kuroo, disbelief painting his face. “This is the worst Halloween ever.”

Kuroo’s laugh is essentially a cackle at this point, and Bokuto wishes that it was as easy as throwing water on him to get him to disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the little mini rant about the stuffer being broken is based off of my own true feelings, i apologize lol
> 
> i hope you guys liked this chapter! i love reading all of your thoughts and reactions!
> 
> come follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/jvunkyou)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updated tags! this chapter does talk quite a lot about drinking but it's all fairly casual, party-esque drinking. if that's something you're uncomfortable with, please be careful with this chapter!
> 
> ((also sorry for the month wait LMAO i wish i had an excuse beyond me just procrastinating and being busy with work.))

A few hours later, the party is basically in full swing. Loud music is playing throughout Kuroo’s house, and the living room has been turned into a make-shift dance floor. There’s definitely too many bodies crammed into the small area—Bokuto had originally thought that Kuroo was just joking when he had told him that he had gone around the mall and invited anyone who he had talked to before, but looking out at the sea of bodies, he’s not so sure anymore.

Bokuto is in the kitchen, nursing a cup of… actually, he’s not completely sure what’s exactly in the cup. He knows it was originally just a spiked blackberry lemonade, but Terushima—a boy who works at Spencer’s upstairs—had squawked when Bokuto had revealed that to him. He had held out his hand, asking, “Let me?” and Bokuto figured that if he wanted to talk to Hot Zumiez Worker, he was way too sober, and had handed over the cup. He lost track of what Terushima was pouring in the cup, but it didn’t taste bad. It actually tasted good, and Bokuto was worried about the alcohol content of the now mixed drink, and wasn’t too privy to chug the whole thing at once. Even if it  _ did _ taste like fruity candy.

Terushima had been dragged away by a boy with green hair, who was talking animatedly at him. Bokuto realizes belatedly that their costumes were two of the three Powerpuff Girls, and wonders briefly if the third Powerpuff Girl was around as well. 

The party wasn’t  _ boring _ by any means, and if it wasn’t for the slight nervousness bubbling in his stomach at the thought of talking to Hot Zumiez Worker again, he was sure he’d be having a lot more fun than he currently was. He usually loved parties, and Kuroo knew how to shake things up, but Kenma had convinced Kuroo to help him hide from Lev, and Bokuto had quickly lost track of the two. Which is how he found himself in his current situation: standing in the corner of Kuroo’s kitchen, drinking a cup filled with God-Knows-What, and being totally not himself.

Shaking his head to rid himself of his thoughts, he decides that  _ fuck it _ , he’s going to go have fun. He throws his head back, chugging whatever was left in his cup, wincing at the bitter aftertaste. Throwing the cup in the trash, he leaves the kitchen, and starts weaving his way towards the middle of the dance floor, ready to let loose. 

“Bokuto!” A voice yells excitedly over the music before Bokuto can get very far into the crowd, and he grins when he recognizes Hinata, dressed as Scooby Doo. Kageyama was next to him, looking increasingly uncomfortable with the fact that there was a couple making out next to him. He’s dressed as a shitty zombie? Mummy, maybe? Bokuto isn’t 100% sure, but whatever it is it’s clearly put together fairly last minute. “Your costume is so good, what the hell!”

Bokuto grins, puffing his chest out a little, “It is, isn’t it?” He agrees, “I made most of it myself. Kuroo’s around here somewhere, and he was  _ meant _ to be Doug.”

“Wow!” Hinata bounces on his heels, “You made it yourself? That’s so cool! Kageyama and I are a part of a group costume this year, too, instead of just dressing up as different sports balls for the third year in a row!”

Bokuto cocks his head, “Where’s the rest of the Scooby Gang, then?” 

Hinata glances around, and shrugs, “Not sure. Oikawa and Suga aren’t here yet—they were having issues with a part of Suga’s Velma costume, or something. I think Iwaizumi is with them, and Daichi didn’t want to dance with us until he was more drunk, but I lost track of where he went like fifteen minutes ago.”

Bokuto shouldn’t be surprised that Oikawa and Suga were a part of the matching group costume, but he is a little shocked that Kageyama was actively participating in one way or another. (The shitty costume makes more sense now that he’s realized that Kageyama is meant to be one of the “monsters” from the show.) “Ah, that makes sense—”

“Oh, have you seen Atsumu yet tonight?” Hinata asks excitedly, basically cutting the older boy off.

“No, I haven’t. Why?” Bokuto asks, very intrigued—whenever either of the Miya twins were involved, it was bound to be good.

“Him and Osamu are apparently dressed as each other.” Hinata rolls his eyes, “I’m, like, 100% sure they’re just themselves  _ pretending _ to be each other, but no one else believes me.”

Bokuto catches Kageyama’s eyes, and Kageyama looks genuinely concerned over the fact that Hinata believes this, “Osamu’s hair is clearly sprayed blonde, Hinata.” He tells him.

Hinata looks scandalized, “No, it’s not! They have different colored eyes, Kageyama. I swear, I know what I’m talking about! I don’t know why you don’t belie—”

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Kageyama starts, cutting off Hinata’s rant, who lets out an irritated  _ hmph _ . “Is Akaashi here yet?”

Bokuto furrows his eyebrows, and Hinata’s eyes light up—rant clearly forgotten, “Oh, yeah!! Kuroo told us that he had asked Akaashi to come! I don’t think I’ve ever once seen him dress up for Halloween, and Kageyama and I have a bet going on whether or not he’ll show up in a costume or not.”

“Who?” Bokuto asks, completely lost at the sudden direction of the conversation. “I don’t think I know an Akaashi.”

Hinata rolls his eyes, and Kageyama looks at him like he’s grown a second head, “Uh, yeah, you do, Bokuto! You’ve only been in love with him since Zumiez moved across the hall from Build A Bear.” Hinata doesn’t say it, but the  _ ‘duh _ ’ is very strongly implied.

Bokuto freezes, “ _ Hot Zumiez Worker _ ?!” He exclaims.

Hinata pauses, a little confused, “Um. I guess that’s him, yeah?”

Kageyama’s eyes widened, “Oh my god, Kuroo told us you didn’t know his name still, but we thought he was joking! You’re really still calling Akaashi that?”

“Calling me what?” A voice next to Bokuto makes him jump a few inches into the air, holding a hand to his chest.

“Jesus Christ!” He exclaims, taking a step away from the body suddenly next to him, at the sudden realization that it’s Hot Zumi— _ Akaashi _ .

Bokuto doesn’t have much time to think about how pretty of a name Akaashi is, and how well it fits the boy that Bokuto had been “secretly” pining over for what feels like ages now. “Nothing!” Hinata answers quickly, laughing awkwardly as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Okay…” Akaashi doesn’t seem convinced, but apparently decides it’s too much effort to argue with the small boy.

Bokuto takes a second to look at Akaashi, and his heart flutters. Akaashi isn’t wearing any fancy costume, but he looks  _ adorable _ . He’s wearing black jeans and yellow converse, paired with an oversized yellow and black striped sweater. On top of his head is a headband with two antennas, bouncing whenever he moves even slightly. He’s a fucking  _ bee _ , and Bokuto wants to cry over it. “You owe me $10,” Hinata whispers to Kageyama, and Kageyama scowls, but doesn’t say anything.

A brief, almost awkward silence falls on the group, broken only by Kuroo bursting into the tiny circle they had created off to the side of the dance floor. “Hey Bokuto—Oh. Akaashi! You came!” Kuroo is yelling too loudly, even with the loud music playing behind them, and red rests high on his cheekbones—he’s definitely more drunk than the rest of them, and Bokuto feels a bit betrayed that the drink Terushima made him either wasn’t that strong, or is taking way too long to hit him fully.

Akaashi smiles a little at Kuroo, “It was hard not to when you threatened me the last time you came into Zumiez.” 

Kuroo’s laugh is just as loud as his voice was, and Bokuto winces a bit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Kuroo says quickly, and then winks at Bokuto (yeah, Bokuto is lost. Again.)

Kuroo turns to Kageyama and Hinata, and Bokuto can already tell he’s not going to like where this is going. “Oh! Oikawa and Suga are looking for you two! They want to take group photos before they get too wasted to remember. They’re out back!” Kuroo starts dragging the two away, before they can protest. “You’re welcome!” He yells at Bokuto and Akaashi as they disappear out the back door.

_ That bitch _ , Bokuto thinks as he watches them leave, knowing that Kuroo’s whole goal was to get him alone with Hot Zu—Akaashi. (Wow, calling him his name was definitely going to take some getting used to.) Akaashi seems to realize the same thing, as he’s rolling his eyes when Bokuto looks over to him. “Wanna show me where the booze is?” Akaashi asks, “I’m too sober for this party.”

Bokuto looks back at where Kuroo had disappeared to, “Yeah. Yeah, me too.”

Back in the kitchen, it’s clear the party’s gotten busier. There’s more people in the small area, and different drinks are spilled all over the counter and floor. Cups fill the garbage can, overflowing onto the floor and into the hallway and living room. Bokuto flinches at the thought of Kuroo inevitably asking him to help clean it all up tomorrow. “You good?” Akaashi asks, grabbing a White Claw from the cooler placed on one of the counters.

Bokuto grabs one too, “I’m just thinking about how much this is going to suck tomorrow when Kuroo makes me feel guilty enough to help him clean this shit up. I don’t think I can handle his whining over a mess like this while I’m hungover, but I give in to his dumbass too easily.”

Akaashi laughs, and the sound is quickly climbing up Bokuto’s list of favorite sounds. “I didn’t realize you and Kuroo were so close—he’s only ever mentioned you once during all of the times he’s had lunch with me.”

Bokuto is shocked by this information, and has to force himself to not let his jaw drop open. What the hell.  _ What the hell _ . Kuroo’s been having  _ lunch _ with Akaashi? “I. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t realize you knew him at all until right now. I’ve known him since I got my job at Build A Bear, we’ve been basically best friends since.” He explains, popping open the tab on the can.

Akaashi seems just as surprised by this, “What? You guys are best friends, and really didn’t know about me? Kuroo and I have been friends since high school.”

Bokuto chokes on the sip of his drink, “You  _ what _ ?” He gets out between his fits of coughs.

Akaashi’s face falls into a scowl. “That dick really never mentioned me? What an asshole! After all the shit I’ve done for him, he repays me like this.” Akaashi takes an annoyed drink of his White Claw.

Bokuto tries to catch his breath, realization hitting him like a fucking freight train at the fact that Kuroo is  _ friends _ with Hot Zumiez Worker, and has just been listening to Bokuto whine and cry about his fat crush and never once did a thing to help him out. “I’m going to beat Kuroo up. I swear to God, I’m going to fuck him up,” Bokuto declares, and Akaashi face pulls into a grin.

“I have an even better idea! Wanna hear about all the embarrassing shit Kuroo did in high school?” Akaashi asks, hopping up on a spot of the counter that wasn’t covered in alcohol.

Bokuto’s anger quickly dissipates and he gets excited over the idea of having  _ so much _ blackmail material over the other now. “Please, oh my god, I’ve never wanted anything more in my  _ life. _ ”

Akaashi leans a little closer, “Kuroo’s a giant fucking nerd. In our freshman year, he auditioned for our school talent show by reciting, like, 150 digits of pi. He got in and did it in front of almost our entire school!”

Bokuto chokes on another sip of his drink as he tries (and fails) not to laugh.  _ Oh _ , he decides,  _ this is so much better than beating Kuroo up _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! i decided that since it was my two year anniversary at work, that it made sense to update this, finally.
> 
> in other news, i may have bought myself an early christmas present and bought the owl we had at work + named it after bokuto (i have no regrets. here's a [picture](https://twitter.com/trsrkawa/status/1331756040442966016?s=20%22) if you're interested. it's adorable and easily the best thing i've spent money on.)
> 
> i'll try not to go another month without an update, but it's also holiday season so i can't promise anything.

**Author's Note:**

> title from “big chance” by superm
> 
> twitter


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